Pawel Milewski is Act's Napier candidate. Photo / Paul Taylor
Pawel Milewski is Act's Napier candidate. Photo / Paul Taylor
Napier candidate Pawel Milewski lives in Eskdale and saw the direct impact of the February floods on the region.
The Act candidate is one of seven candidates vying for the Napier seat in the upcoming October 14 general election, and sees cyclone recovery as a major issue, alongside the cost of living and crime.
“I live in Eskdale, but our home was not affected by the recent cyclone except for a small slip on the lawn - we consider ourselves very lucky.
“It was a traumatic experience to be so close to such a tragedy, but it has also shown the strength of our local community.”
Milewski, who grew up in Poland then emigrated to the UK before arriving in New Zealand, said he would like to bring in Act policies to aid the cyclone recovery if elected.
“Act would create a special economic zone for the affected areas with reduced Resource Management Act requirements,” the married father-of-one said.
A fuel stop in Eskdale during the cyclone (left) and six months after the cyclone. Photo / Paul Taylor
He said the party would also further support local government to invest in the rebuild, promote a public-private partnership (PPP) to “build the infrastructure faster”, and “beef up” an existing cyclone recovery visa brought in by the Labour Government.
Milewski has owned a small business in Hawke’s Bay for the past 10 years, working as an engineering consultant.
He also recently became a black belt in karate alongside his son, which was “a memorable day for our family”.
He believed some of the opportunities which brought him to New Zealand were “deteriorating”, and he wanted to run to be Napier’s MP.
The seat has been held by only Labour or National MPs since World War II.
Whatever happens at the election, the seat will be won by a new face, after Labour MP Stuart Nash announced earlier this year he will not contest the seat again in the wake of a scandal coming to light around him leaking confidential Cabinet information.
Napier’s other candidates include Katie Nimon (National), Mark Hutchinson (Labour), Julienne Dickey (Green Party), Martin Langford (Democracy NZ), Laurie Turnbull (NZ First), and John Clive Smith (independent).
